Good news on the pipeline front: Texas judge orders temporary halt on Keystone XL oil pipeline construction
HOUSTON — A Texas judge has ordered TransCanada to temporarily halt work on a private property where it is building part of an oil pipeline designed to carry tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, the latest legal battle to plague a project that has encountered numerous obstacles nationwide.
Landowner Michael Bishop won a temporary restraining order and injunction Friday against TransCanada and will have a hearing Dec. 19.
Texas landowners have taken to the courts to fight the company’s land condemnations in a state that has long wed its fortunes to oil.
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Bishop said he settled under “duress,” so he bought a law book and decided to defend himself. Since then, he has filed a lawsuit in Austin against the Texas Railroad Commission, the state agency that oversees pipelines, arguing it failed to properly investigate the pipeline and protect groundwater, public health and safety.
Aware that the oil giant could have a battery of lawyers and experts at the hearing later this month, Bishop, a 64-year-old retired chemist currently in medical school, said he is determined to fight.
Nice victory for acting alone! The delay is only temporary, but it's a start.
Perhaps we can get him some legal help?
Any lawyers out in the Houston area (matter is filed in Nacogdoches County) that might want to work on this?